


Something Just like This

by TomasNostradamus



Series: You're My Best Friend, And I Love You [1]
Category: Anne with an E (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-27
Updated: 2020-10-31
Packaged: 2021-03-04 06:41:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 21,722
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24949369
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TomasNostradamus/pseuds/TomasNostradamus
Summary: Modern AU where the kids meet in college and some of them are in a casual cover band. Gilbert, Moody, Charlie and Cole rent a house together. Diana, Jerry and Anne share the smaller house next door.
Relationships: Diana Barry & Jerry Baynard, Diana Barry/Jerry Baynard, Gilbert Blythe & Anne Shirley, Gilbert Blythe/Anne Shirley
Series: You're My Best Friend, And I Love You [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1993510
Comments: 115
Kudos: 217





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> This is the result of me listening to the radio on my commute. Seriously. I have the next bit pretty much written but the final "scene" hasn't come together yet. If there is some interest in it, I'll finish it up. Let me know!

Gilbert Blythe was in a band. It was kind of an accident, but these things happen when a group of drunk people with moderate musical talent discover a karaoke bar three blocks away from campus.

Freshman year shortly after orientation, Gilbert and his randomly assigned roommate Moody Spurgeon decided to go with their neighbors Jerry and Charlie to this little dive that had karaoke and cheap drinks. They proceeded to get properly drunk and eventually it came out that though none of them were pursuing music in college, they all enjoyed singing and played instruments in high school. Gilbert loved to sing, had experience in theater and admitted to being a decent piano player; Moody played banjo for a bluegrass band at his church, but learned guitar as well because he thought it would be more appealing to girls; Charlie was a drummer and spent four years on his school’s nationally ranked drumline; and Jerry had been forced to play cello in his school’s orchestra until convincing his parents to let him play bass in the jazz band instead. Knowing this, after a couple pitchers, they decided it was a good idea to get up and sing _Buddy Holly_ by Weezer and it went really, really well and more importantly, they had a blast. From that point forward they had a tradition. Every Tuesday night they would head down to Bruno’s and sing and drink the evening away.

A few months later, they were at a house party when the people in the crappy band that had offered to play got in a fight and ended up in the hospital. So the guys got up there, looked up some songs on their phones and muddled through a couple to entertain the small crowd. A few weeks after that, a fraternity asked them for a repeat performance so they actually took a bit of time to practice and put on a decent show. After Christmas break, they brought their own instruments back to school and thus the band was born. They never had a name; it was just Gilbert, Moody, Charlie and Jerry. And it was always very informal; they didn’t practice unless they were asked to play somewhere and they only did covers. It was all just for fun and they were happy to provide the music and have the opportunity to let loose a little bit.

Sophomore year, Anne and Gilbert decided to introduced Jerry to Diana and it didn't take long for them to fall hard for each other, despite coming from vastly different backgrounds. Jerry was the son of immigrant entrepreneurs and the first of his family to have the opportunity to attend college. Diana was the daughter of two finance tycoons who, while they didn’t quite understand Diana’s passion for music, supported her nonetheless. Diana and Jerry were married after their junior year and shortly after that, Jerry and Gilbert convinced her to join the ‘band.’ Gilbert was getting tired of singing lead and playing piano at the same time and Jerry was getting tired of hearing him complain about it. Since Diana was a concert pianist and essentially Gilbert's sister, she didn't mind stepping in to help, most the time.

***

Overall, Anne was a happy young woman. She was in her senior year of college, on track to finish Summa cum Laude, had a few job options and grad school options lined up and had an amazing group of friends who loved and supported her. Gilbert, Moody, Charlie, Jerry and Cole all treated her like family, and though she had always gotten along better with boys than girls (having no patience for pointless drama) she had finally found some girlfriends in college who loved her and accepted her for who she was. Diana turned out to understand her better than nearly everyone. Ruby was incredibly kind, Tillie and Jane were always good for a laugh and didn’t take anything too seriously and Josie was relentlessly loyal and supportive.

She tried not to dwell on the fact that she had never had a boyfriend. She hadn’t even had a date. It's not that she hadn't been asked out, it's just that the right person hadn't asked her out and she wasn't really interested in dating around. She finally accepted an invitation to go out with someone before Christmas, since he was clear it was just to get to know her better and she figured she could use it as practice, but in the end, he wasn't able to make it and Anne was left fighting off the advances of the most annoying person she knew.

Having a boyfriend wasn’t everything, but it was something she wanted, because she knew **who** she wanted. She saw how happy her friend Diana was; married to someone she could also call her best friend. They complimented each other so well it was like they were two halves of the same sandwich. Anne wanted so badly to start fully enjoying the other half of her sandwich, and not just because she was hungry. She wanted a companion, someone who loved and accepted all of her; someone who would always be there for her and technically, she knew she already had this in her best friend. Despite their ups and downs, Gilbert had been this for her since the day they met, and she didn't understand why it never developed into anything more. She had known for years that he was the other half of her sandwich and he either wasn’t catching on, which confused her, or couldn’t envision a relationship with her beyond friendship, which devastated her.


	2. You Two are just the Worst

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Anne and Gilbert frustrate each other while studying.

Instead of being out on a Friday night like most of her friends, Anne was in Gilbert’s living room, studying, like usual. She wasn’t sure why she tortured herself like this. She had been friends with him for three and a half years and in love with him for 99% of it. While she was grateful to be his best friend, she was so frustrated that nothing more had ever come of it. He was who she was hungry for. By the time she was in high school she had built up this image of who her ideal guy would be based on a conglomeration of characters from her favorite novels and after an initial misunderstanding upon meeting, she quickly realized that Gilbert was, well, everything. She thought that it was just a crush at first and something that would pass, but everything he did only increased her attraction to him and it didn't take too long for her to decide that she didn't want it to pass; she wanted it to grow. But he never seemed to catch on to her hints, or was choosing to ignore them. She heard stories of her friends accidentally making out with people when they were drunk but she couldn’t even get that lucky with Gilbert.

She was momentarily thrilled last month when he told her he loved her, but he was high on pain medication after having his appendix removed so Anne brushed it off as a friend thing. She was grateful she didn’t give him much of a response because he never brought it up again, clearly having forgotten or never even realized that the whole thing happened. She shuddered to think of the embarrassment she would have experienced if she actually acted on his friendly confession of love. She had envisioned her humiliation if she had come over a couple days later and greeted him with a hug and a kiss only to be met with laughter and him saying, “Anne! What are you doing?” Yes, thankfully she saw through the effects of the pain medication and their friendship continued on as it was before. Maybe it wasn’t what she wanted, but at least she had that much of him.

Gilbert was a phenomenal study buddy. He was extremely intelligent and a really good teacher when she needed help with something. She loved studying with him, but tonight she was having trouble focusing, even more so than usual. They were sitting on the ground leaning against the couch in Gilbert’s house that he rented with the guys. Jerry had moved in with Diana and Anne when they got married so ‘the guys’ were now Gilbert, Moody, Charlie and Cole. When she arrived, she sat down on the floor near the right side of the couch, giving him plenty of room to spread out and study, but instead he sat right next to her, insisting that he knew she was always cold when she visited and figured she could use the extra heat. She had forgotten that the only table in the room was also on the right side of the couch so he was continually reaching his arm around her to get a drink of his water. She loved the feeling of him so close to her and gladly took any physical contact he offered, but it took every ounce of restraint she had to not lean into him and force his arm to rest on her shoulders. Hell, if she were being honest with herself, it took every ounce of physical restraint she had not to straddle him and kiss him senseless. This had been going on for three and a half years now; she was going crazy.

“Gilbert!” she exclaimed through frustrated laughter. “Seriously! No one has ever taken that many separate drinks of water in the history of the world.”

“What can I say? I’m thirsty!”

“Do you want to trade spots then so you don’t have to reach around me?”

“Nope,” he said with the smirk that made her heart melt. “I’m good.”

It's not that they didn't have a physical relationship at all; there had been countless hugs and other friendly gestures over the years. They had even held hands and spent nights cuddled together in bed, completely platonically of course, but that all changed after Diana and Jerry's wedding and she didn't understand why. She didn't have many memories from that night, but assumed she had done something to cause this change in behavior and was too embarrassed to ask about it.

She thought maybe things were changing just before Christmas and for a moment she foolishly let herself get her hopes up. They were out at a bar with their friends, celebrating the end of the semester, and he put his arm around her. She felt stupid for being excited about it when it was clearly the lack of space that had forced the action and she would admit that his arm was mostly on the back of the booth, not actually on her. Regardless, she later freely admitted to Diana that she had practically swooned.

Back when they had more physical contact, it was an unspoken understanding that nothing ever happened in front of other people. From Anne's point of view, she couldn't handle the teasing she received from her friends about her unrequited crush. She wasn't sure why Gilbert seemed to go along with it, but figured he was probably embarrassed. But this was different, he was putting his arm around her in front of all their friends and she couldn't stop herself from hoping it could mean something more. Her hair was down that night and she noticed he absentmindedly played with it while the group discussed their plans for the holidays. When some people left and they had room to spread out a bit, Anne didn't move, and neither did Gilbert. And there were multiple times throughout the night where she felt his thumb gently caressing her shoulder or his fingers tracing along her upper back when she leaned forward. That evening, everything had felt perfect. Even with the constant bickering between them, there was a familiarity there that just felt right. But after that, nothing changed. They never talked about it and for all Anne could tell, the moment may as well have never happened. Without the insistence from her friends who witnessed it, Anne would have had herself convinced that she imagined the whole thing.

Tonight, in addition to the constant space invasion, she was distracted by the smell of him. This was nothing new, really, and he was fully aware what that cologne was capable of. His brother, Sebastian, had given it to him insisting it would drive any woman crazy. She wanted to punch Sebastian in the face. They had never met, but she was certain that this man had been sent into her life to torture her. Freshman year, it had been Sebastian who told Gilbert that maybe he should grow his hair out a little bit. Sophomore year, it was Sebastian who pointed out Gilbert had gained a little weight and should get back to the gym. Gilbert didn’t really need to go to the gym, Sebastian was just making fun of him for not having a girlfriend, but apparently it struck a nerve, so Gilbert went to the gym, five days a week and convinced Anne to come along with him half the time. So not only did she have a front row seat to his transformation, but she got the privilege of seeing all the girls stare at him while he was doing so. To his credit, he never paid them any attention when she was there, but who knows what he did when she wasn’t with him. Also to his credit, for some reason he listened to her when she said that she preferred guys who were in shape, but not necessarily bulky with muscles. So they worked out together, to stay healthy and fit, and as a result Anne had to make a concerted effort to not constantly stare at his lean, perfectly toned body. And it was getting very, very difficult.

Junior year he came back to school after Christmas with the panty melting cologne (terrible term, but that was the only description that appropriately summed up the effect it had on her) and that was when she decided that if they ever met, she would need to punch Sebastian in the face. He was responsible for making proximity to Gilbert Blythe absolutely unbearable. It was also Sebastian who sent him a Newsies costume to wear for Halloween when Gilbert said he didn't want to spend any money to buy one. Apparently Sebastian was helping his girlfriend clean out the costumes at the high school and they figured Gilbert could relive his theater days.

When Anne saw him that night she actually struggled to breathe for a couple minutes. When he gave her a confused look she left the house to go stand in the snow for a while to try to get her shit together. It didn’t work. That evening, when she wasn’t drinking, she was staring at him, which meant she got really drunk and felt really stupid. She doesn’t remember falling asleep that night, but she woke up in Gilbert’s bed with a blanket between them that was clearly meant to keep her away from him. It was the sight of the blanket more than the alcohol that made her vomit. He had once fallen asleep in bed next to her with his arm wrapped around her waist and now apparently whatever happened between them at Diana and Jerry's wedding caused their relationship to become so platonic that he thought they needed a barrier between them when they shared a queen size bed. When she was done puking, she drank the Gatorade that Gilbert had left for her, took the bag of sick with her and dropped it in the bin outside before heading to her room next door all the while holding back her tears. She felt so incredibly stupid for having fallen for him when he clearly would never be interested. And why should he? It was well known that he could have anyone he wanted. _Why would he settle for me?_

So now, between the smell of him, his perfectly messy curls, the feeling of his strong arms as he constantly reached around her and his complete obliviousness and/or disregard to the widely accepted standards of personal space, she was already on edge and now she was becoming more and more agitated by his incessant interruptions. She had a test to study for, dammit.

***

Gilbert was thrilled that Anne sat in the way of his water because it gave him an excuse to touch her. Pathetic? Yes, but he didn't care. If there was an award for coming up with stupid excuses to touch someone, he would have taken home the gold medal years ago. He had always been drawn to her in every way that a person could be attracted to someone, but even he was surprised by how attractive he found how strong she had become since they started exercising together. At the beginning, all he wanted was a workout buddy to help him stay accountable. All the guys were busy or not interested so he asked Anne, which is who he wanted to go with in the first place, he just needed an excuse for asking her when she inevitably asked why he didn't go with one of the guys. What he hadn’t considered was having to deal with every other guy checking her out as she exercised. She didn’t seem to notice and at least no one was rude about it, but it was torturous. He couldn't even fault them for looking though: he understood better than anyone how beautiful she was and she also was usually the only woman lifting free weights. As a result of their diligent workout schedule, sure, Gilbert had gotten back in shape, but it was Anne who had gone from extremely attractive to unfathomably gorgeous. She was receiving more attention than ever and he remained trapped in some version of hell where he found himself lucky enough to be able to spend most of his time with her, more than any other guy for sure, but still unable to turn the relationship into anything more. Diana maintained that it was simply because he hadn't asked for more, but Gilbert couldn't see how that was possible. And it's not that he hadn't tried to bring it up, but he always chickened out or got disrupted.

“Hey Carrots, do you remember the day we met?”

“Obviously I remember meeting the most infuriating person in my life. I wouldn’t be surprised if you don’t though. I pushed you into that lamppost pretty hard.”

He laughed softly, “Oh, I remember.”

“Why do you bring it up?”

“I don’t know. We’re almost done with school; I guess I’m just feeling a bit nostalgic. You get now that I wasn’t making fun of you right?”

“Yes, we’ve been over this. Have you finally learned that teasing isn’t a good way to get a girl’s attention?”

“Ah, no. No I haven’t.”

“The pole didn’t leave a big enough bump on your forehead or did it knock the lesson right out of that head of yours?”

“Need I remind you that you felt so bad that you immediately dumped out your iced coffee and wrapped the ice in the plastic from one of your books to help keep the swelling down?”

“Need I remind **you** that I took time to chug most the drink before attending to your injury? What's your point?”

“I got your attention, Anne, it worked great. And then you spent all week with me. And most days since then.”

“I thought I gave some rando a concussion! It was my civic duty, no matter how deserving you were of the injury, to monitor you for a couple days since you refused to go to health services. Plus, I barely knew anyone else so I reluctantly hung out with you.”

“Reluctantly my ass! We had fun. We absolutely dominated that week. We won that stupid three-legged race, we learned where the best ice cream machine on campus was that most people don’t know about so it’s never out or broken, **and** you won that reserved parking space!”

“I didn’t have a car!”

“So you gave it to me! It was awesome.”

“I should have made you pay for it.”

“Yes you should have, but you didn't ask for any money.”

“There are other ways to pay for things, Gil,” she paused allowing him a moment to think about it. She wished she would have listened to herself at the time and at least gotten a date out of it. Desperate, sure, but in retrospect it probably would have been worth it. “Look, I appreciate your nostalgia and making me feel bad for what I maintain was an appropriate reaction to a ridiculous remark but, please, I need to study. You’re supposed to help me, not be a distraction and you are currently being more of a distraction than you could possibly comprehend.”

“Sorry.”

Gilbert was taking a break from studying by reading a book he was borrowing from Anne. It took him a couple chapters to get into the formal prose, but he found he actually liked the story, besides learning that he had nothing on Mr. Darcy. It only took him about a week to find the time to get all the way through it and he was finishing up the last chapter now. Upon completion, he closed the book hard and tossed it onto the notes she was studying.

“Anne! Why did you make me read this?”

“Didn’t you like it?” she said as she pushed the book to the side to keep studying.

“It was good; I just don’t see why you were so insistent that I read it. You said I would understand the appeal of Mr. Darcy more and I swear all it did was make me feel bad about myself.”

“What are you talking about? You are practically the same person! And it's a beautiful love story! You need more exposure to classic literature to round out your knowledge base.”

“My base is fine, thank you very much. And I don’t have time to read extra books just because you can’t find your own Mr. Darcy.”

 _I have found you, you idiot. Pay attention._ “Alright,” she said, as she started to pack up her stuff, “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

He groaned, “Anne, that’s not what I meant and you know it. For the one millionth time: there is nothing wrong with you. You just have this notion of some ideal guy built up in your mind that you are never going to be able to find in real life! You say you’d love to find someone like Mr. Darcy and while I will admit that he’s pretty great, he is obviously not without flaws! That’s the whole point of the book! You should set your standards high, but right now, no one can live up to your expectations!”

“I don’t see a problem with it, it’s not like anyone is trying.”

“Really? Are you sure?”

“Do you see anyone Gilbert? No one has ever expressed any real interest.”

“I wish you would just open your eyes and sees what’s right in front of you,” he said mostly to himself before continuing, “That’s not true and you know it. Guys are constantly coming up to me and asking me if you’re single and I know that you have turned almost every one of them down. Anne, what are you looking for, really? What do you expect? We don’t live in a world with grand balls and mansions and great inheritance. This is real life, not a novel. It’s highly unlikely some supremely exceptional guy is going to arrive and sweep you off your feet. Are you ever going to give someone a chance to get close to you?”

“I know there is an extremely exceptional guy out there and I know that he is everything I want and I fully intend on waiting for him. In the meantime, I’m not settling for some mediocre stand-in,” she said sternly, staring intently at him.

Both of them were thankful for the sudden interruption caused by Gilbert’s phone. He pulled it out of his pocket and looked at the screen.

**Princess Di - Mobile**

_all the pretty girls-fun, animal-neon trees, i want you to want me-cheap trick, some nights-fun,_   
_everything you want- vertical horizon, i want you to- weezer, creep-radiohead,_   
_cecilia-simon and garfunkel, el scorcho-weezer, you belong with me-taylor swift_

“Damn it, Diana,” he said as he pressed the button to call her. “Diana, seriously, what the fuck?”

“Sense a theme, Blythe?”

“Yes, I sense the fucking theme, Baynard.”

“You’re with her now, right?”

“You know I am. Why?”

“Tell her!”

“I did. It didn’t work out. You know that, now stop torturing me about it. What are we actually playing?”

“I don’t know. Fun for sure and Neon Trees and I really would like to throw some Weezer in there too, if you’re up for it. We’re supposed to keep it pretty upbeat. You know, dancey,” she paused before adding, “Moody wants to do _Something Just like This_.”

“No. Absolutely not.”

“Seriously, Gilbert? Everyone loved it when you guys played it a few years ago. People have been asking to hear it ever since then!”

“I don’t care! We performed it as a joke! It was an easy out!”

“Calm down, I’m just passing along the message. And I agree with him. Put Anne on.”

“No.”

“ANNE!” she screamed into the phone and as Gilbert winced and held out the phone in pain Anne grabbed it from him.

“Hey, babe,” she said.

“Anne, tell Gilbert how much you love _Something Just like This_ so he will sing it tomorrow.”

She scoffed, “What makes you think he’ll listen to me?”

“It’s Gilbert, yours is the only opinion that matters.”

“What the hell are you talking about?”

“Ugh, you two are just the worst! Put him back on, ignoramus.”

“You’re mean,” she said and handed Gilbert his phone.

“Yeah?” Gilbert asked

“Talk it over with Moody when he gets home and just let me know. I’m fine with whatever.”

“Of course you are, you’re actually a musician.”

“No one made you keep this going. You love it.”

He laughed, “Yeah, it is pretty fun. We’ll let you know what we come up with.”

“Bye, Gil. Tell her.”

“Bye, Di. No.”

Gilbert ended the call and threw his phone across the room at the recliner. Anne went to get it and keyed in his passcode to see what Diana sent.

“Trouble in paradise?” Anne asked sarcastically.

“You have no idea.”

“Let’s see…” she sat back down even closer to him than she was before. It was an accident. Really it was. “What is _El Scorcho_? I don’t know that one.”

“Yes you do. Look it up.”

“Just sing a bit of it,” she said, nudging him with her shoulder.

“No.”

“So you can sing on stage in front of a couple hundred people but you can’t sing just a couple bars to me?”

 _I’m going to kill Diana,_ he thought as he quickly and quietly sang, “ _I’m a lot like you, so please come on, I’m here, I’m waiting. I think I’d be good for you and you’d be good for me.”_

He brought his hands to his face and rubbed his temples in frustration.

“Oh! I didn’t know the name of it I guess. That’s a great song, you should do it!”

“No.”

“These are almost all about unrequited love… that’s a bit bleak, isn’t it?”

“Like you wouldn't believe,” Gilbert sighed, glaring at her as she looked at his phone. “That’s not what we're playing. Moody and I will talk about it later; Diana’s just being a tool.”

“Why’s that?”

“She’s mad at me.”

“Why?”

“Because I’m not living up to her expectations.”

Anne handed Gilbert his phone and went back to studying. He reached around her and got another drink of water and couldn’t help but smell her hair.

She slammed her pen down on her notebook, looked at him and asked, “Did you just smell me?”

“Yes,” he admitted quietly and she could swear she saw him blush. “I like how you smell, okay?”

Saying he simply liked how she smelled an extreme oversimplification. She smelled great, yes, but it wasn’t just that. During a particularly enlightening massage she had given him last year, he had discovered that she smelled like home. Not that she smelled like his actual home, but that she had somehow become home to him. It had been a simultaneously wonderful and terrifying revelation and ever since then, he couldn't get enough of it.

“Well, thank you,” she laughed lightly. “You smell good too?”

“Are you asking me? Just because I give you a compliment doesn’t mean you need to reciprocate.”

“You smell good too,” she said with more certainty. “Fantastic really. Just one of the many ways you are a distraction from studying.”

He looked her in the eye and softly asked, “What are the other ways?”

There was a brief moment of tension between them before they heard the door open and Moody arrived home. He flung his bag onto the kitchen table before joining them in the living room, crawling across the couch so he was sitting behind Anne with his legs stretched out behind Gilbert.

He tousled Anne’s hair as he greeted her, “Hey Annie.”

“Hey Moody,” she smiled back at him.

Gilbert wasted no time, “We’re not doing that song, Moody.”

“Why? You sing it so well and everyone loves it! Seriously, people can’t help but dance to it.”

“I don’t care. I’m not doing it, and I can barely sing it. It’s too low.”

“But people have been asking for it constantly since we did it that one time three years ago!”

“No!”

“Then you have to give me a reason for not wanting to perform a sure thing. It is so easy to play and there is not a person alive who can resist bopping along to it.”

“Of course it’s easy to play, it’s Coldplay,” Gilbert said as he stood up, grabbed Moody by the hoodie and pulled him through the house and out the front door.

***

Anne was confused by their abrupt departure and a little flustered from their discussion, but at least she would now have the chance to think straight without him next to her. Unfortunately she wasn't given the opportunity because after only about five seconds, Gilbert’s phone was buzzing. She looked at it: Facetime call with Bash. _What the hell,_ she thought and answered the call, _I'm not getting anything done tonight anyway._

“Sebastian, I presume?”

He chuckled and said, “Wow, finally I get to meet the famous Anne.”

“I’m hardly famous, but yes, I’m Anne, how did you know? I know I texted you briefly once...”

“Gilbert has mentioned you. And I've seen pictures.”

“Excuse me, what?” she asked cautiously.

“Yeah, Anne” he laughed. "You're his best friend; he's mentioned you once or twice. But probably closer to a million times. There are three things Gilbert talks about: medicine, apples and you. That's pretty much it. He told us you’re getting ready to take your Praxis exam?” Sebastian asked.

“Yeah, I’m actually studying for it right now. We usually spend Friday nights studying together.”

“Yeah, I know,” he chuckled. “Almost every Friday since you met. Sometimes you go out to dinner first, but usually you just eat frozen pizza.” She glanced at the pizza sitting on a cutting board in the middle of the floor and bit her lip.

_What is going on?_

Sebastian continued, “Hey, Anne, if you ever need any extra help, my girlfriend is a teacher, and she might be able to give you some pointers on what to study for.”

“That would be really great actually. Are you sure she wouldn’t mind? I don’t think I made the best impression on her when we met last summer.”

“She'd love to help, I promise. Just ask Gilbert for her contact information and I’ll tell her to expect to hear from you. And by the way, you made a great impression on her; you were exactly what she expected you to be. Gilbert has described you at length and I promise, you did **not** disappoint.”

“Great,” she said sarcastically as she rolled her eyes. 

“I think you misunderstand me, Anne. Gilbert has kind of built you up to us, to the point where it's kind of hard to believe that you're real. Muriel came here after meeting you that day and she was so excited, it was like she had met a celebrity. She said she had assumed his opinion of you was biased because of your close relationship, but she said that wasn't the case at all. That even from your short interaction, you were everything he made you out to be. And more. She can't wait until you two get your shit together and you're over here more often.”

“What the f-”

“Daddy! Is that Uncle Gilby?” she heard a voice call from out of view.

“No sweetie, this is-”

“Queen Anne!” the little girl shouted and waved as she popped into view.

“Hi Delphine,” Anne said sweetly. Her mind was racing, but her heart couldn't help but soften at the sight of the little girl. “It's nice to meet you.”

“You're real! I thought Gilby made you up!”

“Told you,” Sebastian said.

Anne laughed and said, “I **am** real, sweet girl. Why would you think he made me up?”

“Because I've never seen you!”

“Well, here I am. What do you think now? Am I everything you expected me to be?”

“No! You're even better! Daddy, Gilbert is right, she is so beautiful. She looks like a princess in a fairytale! Just like he said!”

“Yes, Dellie, yes she does.”

“I’m confused,” Anne said, “What did he say? And when?”

“He said you are the most beautiful thing he has ever seen,” Delphine said confidently. “He says it all the time.”

“Delphine that’s enough,” Sebastian said sternly.

“All the time,” she repeated.

“I’m sorry about that,” Sebastian apologized. “Can you just have Gilbert call me back? His niece wants to talk to him.”

“But now I want to talk to Anne! She's prettier!”

Anne hesitated “Um, sure, he just stepped outside for a minute so it shouldn’t be long now.”

“Thank you. It was really, very nice to finally meet you Anne, you have no idea. And I look forward to getting to know you better,” Sebastian said seriously and then he was quiet for a moment as he looked intently at her. “You know, Gilbert really did say you are the most beautiful woman he has ever seen, but somehow that didn’t do you justice. Sorry that’s probably not appropriate, and I’m not hitting on you, I swear,” he laughed softly. “I’m just surprised is all. He described you so perfectly and I’ve even seen pictures of you, but somehow it wasn’t enough.”

Anne was speechless. Gilbert had complimented Anne's appearance on many occasions, but she found it strange that he had told Sebastian... and Delphine... and Muriel apparently, that he thought she was beautiful. That didn't really feel like a friend thing to do. _And what was that about us getting our shit together?_

Sebastian continued, “On second thought, we’ll just call back later. Maybe don’t mention talking to me, or us. He’s going to ask what we talked about and I am a terrible liar and I don’t want him to kill me, so yeah, just forget it. Bye Anne. Again, so glad to have finally met you,” and he ended the call.

_What the actual fuck just happened?_

***

“Do you have any idea what the song is about?” Gilbert asked Moody when they got out to the porch.

“Kind of.”

“It’s about a guy who is afraid he’s not good enough for the girl he’s interested in. Sound familiar? Except in the song, she actually wants him as he is and doesn’t expect him to be some storybook hero. In reality, **I** want something just like this and I am hyper aware that I am not good enough for her. She’s waiting for her fucking storybook hero and ‘clearly I don’t see myself upon that list.’ I’m not singing the damn song because it hurts, Moody. That song came on when we were studying the other day and I fucking left the room. I couldn’t handle it.”

Moody reached up, patted his friend condescendingly on the shoulder and said. “Get over yourself, Gilbert. We’re doing the song.”

“No!”

“Yes! You’re the only one who doesn’t want to do it! It’s not fair!”

“Fine, but we’re playing it faster! And I’m going to be really drunk so it hurts less!”

“We will play it as fast as Diana and I set the tempo and you would never get that drunk for a show because you’re generally not an idiot. It’s just one song, you can deal.”

Moody went inside, looked at Anne on the floor talking on Gilbert’s phone and returned to Gilbert. “Did you ever tell her?”

“Yes. When I got my appendix out last month I was on all these pain meds and I was so grateful that she was taking care of me and I told her. It just slipped out.”

“And what happened?”

“She ruffled my hair like I was a puppy and spoke in a cutesy voice when she said it back. ‘Aww, I love you too Gilbert,’” he mimicked in disgust. “It was humiliating, even with the medication cutting it.”

“Next time, don’t be high on pain medication and say ‘I’m in love WITH you.’”

“There’s not going to be a next time, I’m just going to ‘Be There.’”

“Be there?”

“Yeah, I’m just going to always be around and she’ll eventually catch on.”

“You’ve been doing that for three and a half years now. It’s not working. You need to tell her, soberly, with your words or she isn't going to get it. Also, that’s the most pathetic thing I’ve ever heard.”

“Yes, I know that,” he said as he opened the door to head back inside.

Moody grabbed the knob and shut it in his face, “And stop turning down the heat when she comes over here just so you can sit closer to her! I’m sick of being cold, man!”

“Then put on another sweater.”

***

Gilbert returned and plopped down next to Anne, groaning in frustration.

She tried to act as normal as possible, but her heart was beating faster than she thought was safe, “Get it all sorted out?” she squeaked.

“Everyone wants to do _Something Just like This_ tomorrow.”

She took a deep breath and tried to get her voice to sound normal, “It’s a great song; I can’t not dance when I hear it.”

“That seems to be the consensus.”

“Diana seemed to think that for some reason I could convince you to play it,” Anne added hesitantly.

“No need to use your superpowers. Moody’s not backing down.”

“But you would play it if I asked you to?”

“I couldn't say no to you even if I wanted to,” he answered honestly.

Moody chimed in, “We need to do some Taylor Swift too. The girls LOVE when you sing Taylor Swift.”

“And exactly how is that beneficial to you?” he asked.

“When you turn them down, they ask me out,” he said happily.

“Moody, you need to set your sights higher than Gilbert’s sloppy seconds,” Anne said.

“Technically, they aren’t seconds when he doesn’t ever go out with any of them.”

“Why don’t you, Gil?” she asked.

“I’m not interested in them. Moody, have you ever gone out with someone who wasn’t interested in me first?”

Moody thought about it and shook his head.

“Come on Moods, you deserve better. Maybe if you found someone actually interested in you from the start, you’d be able to stick with them longer than just a few dates.”

“You’re offering me dating advice? Really? You are the only voluntarily perpetually single guy I know. We don’t all have girls swarming around us everywhere we go Gilbert. I’ll take what I can get.”

“When the hell do I have girls swarming around me?” he looked at them utterly confused. He knew that girls found him appealing and that he used to garner a lot of attention from them, but since coming to college, he hadn't really noticed it anymore.

Anne chimed in, “It’s, like, all the time, it’s really obnoxious. Just yesterday when we got coffee there was a whole table of girls ogling you. Didn’t you find it odd that every time you got up there was a woman who would accidentally bump into you?”

“I didn’t notice.”

“How could you not notice? One of them walked by and dumped a sugar packet on your shoulder and made some terrible joke about how sweet you must be.”

“Really?”

“Gilbert,” she said exasperated, “The barista put her phone number on your cup with little hearts over the Is in her name. Letitia. Also, she was stunning, looked just like Zoe Saldana.”

He shook his head, “I don’t remember any of that. I was there with you, why would I pay attention to anyone else?”

He said it so casually that Moody was certain Gilbert didn’t realize what he said, but Anne heard it for what it was and turned her face away from him to hide her blush as Gilbert ate half of another piece of pizza in one bite and reached over her to grab the remote for the TV.

“Uh, I don’t mean to change the subject, but we really need to discuss what we're playing. Can we do _Some Nights_?”

“I can’t sing that high bit in the end, especially if I’ve been drinking.”

“So don’t drink.”

“Then I can’t sing _Something Just like This_. I need the alcohol to get my voice a little lower. You choose, Moods.”

“Why do you guys play so many songs by Fun?” Anne asked.

“Because it’s fun,” they answered in unison and then high fived as Anne laughed.

Gilbert continued, “They **are** fun songs, both to perform and listen to, but also I can make my voice sound similar to his, not as good obviously, but they’re easier for me to pull off than say… Coldplay,” he said as he turned his head and glared at Moody.

Anne pulled up the video for _Carry On_ on her phone, “He is so hot.”

This got Gilbert’s attention real quick. He took her phone from her and asked, “ **That’s** what does it for you?”

“I’m not saying that look would work on many people, but he wears it well. And I have a thing for a guy in suspenders.”

He couldn’t say they looked super alike, but there were similarities. Gilbert was probably taller, but they were both thin with dark long-ish hair and sharp jawlines. There were a couple moments of silence while he connected the dots. “Anne, are you kidding me? Is **that** why you kept looking at me weird last Halloween when I was a Newsie?”

She rolled her eyes and softly said, “Yes.”

“Seriously?”

“The vest you had on early in the evening didn’t hurt either,” she admitted. She wasn’t even embarrassed. He looked hot, everyone said so, but it seemed she was the only one who couldn’t stop leering. Really though, she often couldn't stop leering at him, she just usually hid it better.

“You had me freaking out Anne, I thought I had food on my face or something in my teeth all night. I went to the bathroom to check the mirror like thirty times that night; it was such a waste of time. Just use your words so I’m not so paranoid next time.”

“So let me get this straight,” she said through her laughter. “You’re saying the next time you wear your Newsies costume, whenever that may be, you want me to tell you I think you’re attractive? Is this going to become a frequent occurrence? Can’t we just assume you’ll know I think you're attractive since we are having this completely ridiculous discussion?”

“Yes! It took three and a half years but you finally admitted you find me attractive!” he exclaimed punching his fist into the air in victory as Anne laughed at his genuine enthusiasm.

“This is not new information! Everyone finds you attractive! It’s an empirical fact!” she countered.

“I don’t care what everyone thinks,” he said. “I care what **you** think.”

 _Do they know I’m still here?_ Moody wondered as he watched them more than the TV.

She clicked on the _All the Pretty Girls_ video next, trying to move on from the conversation, “He looks good here too. You should try this look.”

They watched for a bit, then Anne said, “This is what it’s like Gil, this is how the girls chase you.”

“Agreed,” Moody said, “Do you really not notice it?”

“That has got to be an exaggeration, but no I don’t notice it. I did in high school, but I thought it kind of stopped once I got to college."

"It didn't stop, you just got distracted when you met-" Moody mumbled and Gilbert turned around and hit him, interrupting him before he could finish.

"I’m not wearing a scoop neck shirt Anne; that would be way too much of my chest on display. And those pants are way too tight and way too short for my taste. Kudos to him though because he’s clearly pulling it off.”

“You could pull it off, I’ve seen your chest, and you have nothing to be ashamed of.”

“When is the last time you saw me without a shirt on?”

“December 20th.”

He laughed, “Why do you know that?”

She tried to be cool, but that was not information that she needed him to know. “Lots of reasons: I attempted to go on a date that night and I got stood up. Everyone in my house had already travelled home for break and I didn’t want to be alone so I came over here because I knew you and Moody were still around. The previous night, you all were playing drinking games and someone,” she said glaring back at Moody, “Threw a full can of beer at the wall and broke the thermostat and the heat got stuck on full power. By the time I got over here, it was just you and Moody, drunk, sitting in your underwear on the couch with all the windows open, and playing video games in a sauna. It was hilarious.”

_And also, I almost fainted at the sight of you._

“Oh, that’s right,” he laughed. “Then we crashed at your place and you made us puppy chow. That ended up being a pretty good night.”

“It did,” she smiled at him, staring into his eyes for just a moment too long before clearing her throat and saying, “I’m not getting anything done here, I need to get going. Can I get Muriel’s contact information from you? Bash said she could help me study.”

 _Fuck._ “When did you talk to Bash?” Gilbert asked in a voice quite a bit higher than it usually was.

 _Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit._ “While you were outside? He called so you could talk to your niece. He said they would just call back later.”

Anne could immediately tell by his posture that he was worried about the conversation and he nervously asked, “Did you talk about anything else?”

“Sorry, I really need to get going. Plus, you guys have a show to plan. Bye Moody.”

“Bye Anne,” Moody said as Gilbert rose from the floor and walked her to the door.

“Hey Gil? Can I come to your rehearsal tomorrow?”

“No.”

“Come on, please? Just this once?”

“No.”

“Why not?”

“There are only two reasons people go to a rehearsal of a crappy band. They are either in the band or they want to sleep with someone in the band. Are you in the band, Anne?”

“Obviously I’m not in the band.”

“So who do you want to sleep with?” he said with a smirk.

“I just want to watch! Can’t I just enjoy the music my friends play?”

“No. Is it Diana? Please let it be Diana,” he teased.

“It's you, Gilbert,” she mumbled as she walked out the door.

“What?” he asked breathlessly, certain his ears were tricking him.

“I said screw you, Gilbert,” she over-annunciated and lied as she called back. Then she turned and smiled at him and said, “Diana is married. I would never do that to Jerry.”

He laughed as he watched her walk away then called out, “Good night, Anne.”

She looked back at him from her front door, gave a small wave and said, “Sleep well, Gilbert.”

***

She went into her house, dropped everything she was carrying then walked over to and collapsed on her couch, her mind reeling with possibilities, trying to wrap her mind around the fact that it seemed her world was turning upside down. She had woken up today with no expectations. There had been days when she let herself get her hopes up about a a future with Gilbert, but this wasn't one of them. Today had been completely ordinary in every regard, until it wasn't.

_I couldn't say no to you even if I wanted to._

_I'm not interested in them._

_I don't care what everyone thinks, I care what you think._

_I was there with you, why would I pay attention to anyone else?_

_He said you're the most beautiful woman he's ever seen. He says it all the time._

_He talks about three things: medicine, apples and you._

_She can't wait until you two get your shit together and you're over here more often._

_You just got distracted when you met... me? Is there even he smallest chance you stopped noticing other women when you met me?_

He hadn't dated anyone since she'd known him, and it hadn't been from lack of interested women, that's for sure. They spent almost all their time together and so much had just been said that could indicate he might actually have feelings for her. _Do I dare get my hopes up?_ There had been moments, so many moments that seemed so close to being more, and Diana had always told her to just go for it, convinced that he felt the same. For the first time in three and a half years, Anne forced herself to look at it objectively and for the first time she saw the genuine possibility of something more.

***

“Bash! Anne just left early and she got really weird when she seemed to accidentally mention your phone call. What did you say to her?”

“Nothing much. We talked about her exam coming up, I said Muriel would probably be willing to help her focus her studying.”

“What else?”

“Nothing...”

“Bash!”

“Well, Gilbert, what you need to understand is that we were caught by surprise and Delphine is only four, you can’t expect her to know what is appropriate to share. Really, you have no one to blame but yourself for talking about her so much when you come home. And well, I'm not so good with keeping secrets, and honestly I just want you two to come to your senses so-”

“What did you say?!”

Sebastian reiterated the conversation.

“Oh my god, Bash, why?” he whined as he rubbed his eyes.

“Gilbert, she was so surprised, I don’t think she has any idea how you feel about her.”

“Well, she might now, don’t you think?!”

“Yeah, and it's about time; this has dragged on for far too long. You need to talk to her, what do you have to lose?”

“Her! Bash, I’m not good enough for her! If I tell her I love her and she doesn’t feel the same I… I don’t even want to think about my life without her in it.”

“Gilbert, you **are** good enough for her and you deserve her. She didn’t look upset, she looked confused, but also like what she heard gave her hope. You need to tell her. Clearly. Without the influence of medication.”

“What if everything falls apart?” he asked nervously.

“What if everything falls into place?" Sebastian asked. “The pieces are already moving this time Gilbert. It's now or never. And never isn't an option. It's time.”


	3. Glorified Karaoke

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Josie's birthday party.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's the set list they follow for the party:  
> All the Pretty Girls – Fun.  
> My Name is Jonas – Weezer  
> Shut Up and Dance – Walk the Moon.  
> Animal – Neon Trees  
> Trouble – Taylor Swift  
> You Belong with Me – Taylor Swift  
> I Want You to Want Me – Cheap Trick  
> We Are Young – Fun.  
> I’m Gonna Be (500 Miles) – The Proclaimers  
> I Want You To - Weezer  
> Something Justin like This – Chainsmokers/Coldplay
> 
> Next chapter probably won't be very long, and it might take a couple days to come up with something. Just a warning. Thanks for reading!

The next day, Gilbert stood freshly showered with a towel around his waist, staring at his closet for a good twenty minutes, unable to decide what to wear. They didn’t perform often, but when they did, Gilbert usually just wore jeans and a t-shirt. But this was going to be more formal at the birthday girl’s request. Also, Anne said she was attracted to guys in suspenders and based on her reaction last Halloween, she wasn’t making it up. He remembered that she had spent nearly the entire night looking at him and he honestly couldn’t figure out why. He’s not sure what possessed her to drink so much, but she passed out well before midnight. He carried her to his room and made sure she had everything she needed before returning to the party. When he returned a couple hours later, he just sat and watched her sleep for a while. She was dressed as Amy Pond, but considering their similar styles she mostly just looked like herself. He was probably over stepping boundaries, but he kissed her forehead and told her he loved her before walking around the bed to the other side. He didn’t trust himself to stay away from her at all and didn’t want her to feel like he would take advantage of the situation so he bunched up a blanket and used it as a barrier between them, hoping that it would show her how much he respected her and cared for her well-being.

Now the suspenders were hanging there, calling to him. And he had a fitted navy suit that was shockingly both clean and pressed hanging right over there. He had any number of white shirts to choose from and his dress shoes were actually really comfortable, and he knew Anne liked them because she had helped pick them out. _Am I crazy? Am I actually considering this?_ He decided no, he wasn’t considering it. The consideration had long passed, he was doing it. He got dressed looked in the mirror and decided he needed a second opinion.

“Moody!” he called out as he left his room. “Moods! Where are you?”

“Bathroom!”

“Hurry up! I need your opinion!”

He opened the door mid-shave and looked at Gilbert.

“How do I look?” he asked tentatively.

“Son of a bitch, Gilbert! Why you gotta be like that? Can’t you give me just the slightest chance?”

“So, it’s okay?”

“You get away from me or I swear to god I’m going to cut you,” he said before slamming the door shut.

“Thanks Moody!” he yelled as he pulled out his phone to text Anne and went downstairs.

**FW - Mobile**

_Do you know anyone who_ _might be interested  
in Moody?_   
_I just pissed him off pretty bad._

_What did you do?_

_I asked him how I looked._

_???_

_Yeah, it was a weird moment for us._   
_Anyway, I was thinking maybe Ruby?_   
_She’s smart and really pretty and_ _I think they  
might actually be good together._

_You set up one couple, they happen to get  
married and you think you can just go about   
pairing people off?_

_Yeah, pretty much._

_Fine. I think you might be right. I_ _know she  
thinks he’s cute anyway. I’ll ask her._

_If she needs convincing, remind_ _her that he  
plays guitar and probably has great fingers.   
;-)_

_Are you serious with_ _that last comment?_

_You’re just mad that I beat you to it._   
_And because Ruby is possibly the_ _sweetest  
girl we know._

_Shut up. And you’re one to talk. You play  
piano. Have you seen your fingers move?_

_So glad you’ve noticed._

_And Ruby definitely is the sweetest girl we  
know._   
_You seem awfully fond of her,_ _you sure YOU  
aren’t interested?_

_I prefer spicy to sweet.  
You should have noticed that by now as well._

_Is that so?_   
_Glutton for pain?_

_No, I just love the heat._

***

Josie’s birthday party was at Diana’s aunt’s mansion. It was Aunt Jo’s belief that if the kids are going to party, they may as well have a safe place to do it where it wouldn’t bother any neighbors. Gilbert, Diana, Jerry, Moody and Charlie all showed up early to get everything set up. Most of the night there would be a DJ, but they said they would play for a while around ten.

When Gilbert walked into the room, Diana stood, whistled and clapped for him as he took off his suit jacket, and laid it over the back of a chair before rolling his sleeves up. “Damn Gilbert! What the hell? You look like, wow, I don’t even know what to say.”

Jerry said, “You could say, ‘Hey Jerry, my loving and devoted husband, don’t you look nice this evening?’ instead of hitting on our friend right in front of me.”

“I’m not hitting on him; I would never do that. This is just a fact. My god Gilbert, Anne is going to pass out when she sees you like this.”

“Do you really think she’ll like it?” he looked at her hopefully.

Diana was still looking him up and down, while circling him and trying not to drool, “Ah, yeah, I think she will. Are you finally going to do something about it?”

“I don’t know, maybe. We had some interesting conversations today and yesterday and I’m hoping maybe she’s catching on.”

“Why don’t you just listen to me when I tell you that she’s into you?”

“Because you aren’t around when she is talking about her ideal man being someone completely different than me! If she were interested, wouldn’t she say something?”

“Wouldn’t you?”

“I did! I **finally** said something and she made me feel like an idiot! I had always imagined her fingers in my hair and I gotta say not once was it as patronizing as when it actually happened.”

“Come with me,” Diana said seriously and pulled him out of the room. “Gilbert Blythe, I want you to listen to what I’m saying.”

“What the hell is happening right now?” he asked as he realized he wasn’t looking as far down as usual to meet her eyes, “How tall are those shoes Diana?”

“Like twelve centimeters. I’m sick of looking like a child next to all you giants. Shut up.”

“How do you even walk in those?” he laughed.

“Gilbert! Listen!” she yelled. “I’m going to make this as plain as possible. What book did you just finish reading at Anne’s request?”

“Pride and Prejudice.”

“And you know how into Mr. Darcy she is…”

“Yes,” he scoffed.

“Ugh, I do not have time to wait for you to figure this out: Anne is Elizabeth Bennet and **you** are Mr. Darcy. That’s what she wanted you to get from that. Can you see it yet?”

“That can’t be right, I told her he made me feel terrible about myself, like I could never measure up to her ideal, she’s told me what she wants and I don’t think I fit any of it.”

“Well, she disagrees and for the record, so do I. You are everything she is looking for, and you always have been. She sure as hell is Lizzie, so make a move, Mr. Darcy,” she said and left him standing alone in stunned silence.

***

(Diana’s phone)

**Anne - Mobile**

_Did you tell Gilbert what to weartonight?_

_We discussed some options,_ _but no, not  
really. Why?_

_Because it looks like you brought_ _your  
greatest fantasy to life and dressed up a  
Gilbert doll to act it out._   
_He walked in and I stood up and clapped._   
_I almost started drooling._   
_That’s a lie._   
_I drooled._   
_Damn, Anne, I have never_ _seen him look so  
good._

_What are you trying to do to me?_

_Just prepare yourself, you might actually pass out._

_And I assume he already has_ _girls swarming  
him?_

_Doesn’t matter, he wants you._   
_And he is incessantly clear to them_ _that he’s  
not available._

_No he doesn’t._

_Yes he does, we talk about it all the time._

_WHAT?_ _  
Why haven’t you ever said anything?_

_I’ve told you to go for it_ _with him for years._   
_You haven’t listened!_

_So why should I believe you now?  
What’s changed._

_My patience. I’m out.  
Anne, you are in his phone as FW._   
_What did he tell you that meant?_

_Favorite Woman._

_You’re such an idiot._   
_It’s Future Wife._   
_Anne, you’ve been in his phone as_ _Future Wife  
since the day you met._

**Anne calling...**

Diana answered Anne’s call immediately, “What the hell Diana? Why is this all coming out now?”

“Because every time either of you say anything you follow it with, ‘Don’t tell anyone what I just said!’ I’ve been trying to be a good friend but I’ve just been enabling your idiocy! I can’t watch you two pine after each other anymore when you should be together!” 

“Oh my god,” Anne said, trying to take deep breaths, “Well, what happens now? What am I supposed to do?”

“You could start by not patting a guy’s head like a dog when he tells you he loves you. Anne, he’s still crushed!”

“He was high! I didn’t think he meant like that! I assumed it was a friend thing!”

“It wasn’t! It was said more in gratitude than as a result of him being high, the high just gave him the push he needed. He finally figured out a way to tell you he loves you and you treated it like it was a joke! Just, if you can’t be the one to confess first, just please give him some indication of your feelings so he gets the courage to say something? Anne, he is in love with you, there is no risk of embarrassment or rejection here. He is your best friend and he loves you; please just help him. He is so scared that he isn’t good enough for you.”

“Are you kidding me?” Anne asked flatly. “He’s insinuated as much before but he actually thinks he isn’t good enough for me?”

“I’m not kidding; I just talked to him. That’s why he hasn’t said anything about it since then, and yes, he remembers the whole night. He is so embarrassed and says he doesn’t fit the description of your story book hero. It’s why he doesn’t want to sing _Something Just like This_.”

“So, you’re saying that I told him to read these books in an attempt to get him to see that he fits every description of everything I want and somehow, what he took away from that is that he isn’t at all like them and isn’t good enough for me…”

“Yeah, basically.”

“ **How is he so fucking stupid when it comes to literature?!** ” she screamed into her phone.

“Anne, this is on you too. Just get your shit done then get your butt over here and prepare to make a move. It’s long past due.”

***

“Alright you guys, who’s ready for a little glorified karaoke?” Gilbert asked after jumping up on the stage and grabbing the microphone.

His question was answered with cheers and yelling.

“We just need a couple minutes here to finish setting up. I think I recognize most of you, but for those of you I don’t know, my name is Gilbert. Yes, that is my real name and I didn’t pick it so leave me alone. Charlie will be playing drums, Jerry’s on bass, Moody plays guitar and Diana is our insanely overqualified keyboard player that we have done nothing to deserve. Still not quite sure how we got you here, Diana.”

“I married the bass player, you idiot.”

“That’s right! You did! But why?” he teased.

“Because I’m not afraid to go after what I want unlike some people I know.”

“Well, that escalated quickly. Nice burn, Diana. I need to get a different mic, but is everyone else all set? Yeah?” he said, looking around and receiving nods. He looked back over to Diana who was chugging her margarita. “And Diana looks bored. Di, why don’t you play some Liszt for us?”

“Interesting choice, but I’m impressed that you know enough to know how challenging his music is.”

“You forget I played piano once upon a time too, and I only know enough to know I can’t play his stuff.”

“I must’ve pissed you off with that last comment.”

“You did,” he laughed.

“Well, I’d like to say that I’ve not previously attempted playing this after three margaritas, but that would be a lie, so here we go.”

She rocked out part of Hungarian Rhapsody #2, which was extra impressive in the red heels and black evening gown. After a big showy finish, she grabbed her microphone and said, “Suck it, Blythe.” She received a cacophony of cheering and curtseyed in response.

He laughed, “Well, that backfired because now I need to follow your exceptional skill with my mediocre voice. Oh well. I think we’re all set, can we get the chord Di?”

She tapped out the notes while taking another drink of her margarita. Charlie lightly tapped a beat on the snare and they all sang out, _“All the pretty girls on a Saturday night,”_ and Gilbert continued on singing the first verse.

He was always surprised how much he enjoyed being on stage. Sure, it took him a beer to quiet his nerves, but everyone knew this was just for fun and he enjoyed his part. He liked to dance, he liked to sing and he was modest about his skill, but he was really good at it. Everyone thought so. He knew Anne was going to be a couple minutes late and like usual, the moment she entered the room he was immediately drawn to her. He caught her eyes and noticed her jaw drop slightly in what he hoped was stunned attraction, but he would settle for pleasant surprise.

***

Diana was right. Anne got super lightheaded as soon as she saw Gilbert and had to make a concerted effort to focus on her breathing. The vision of him was enhanced by the hope that they might be together at the end of the night. She immediately wished she had worn flats and jeans so she could just sit down where she was. But the birthday girl requested formal, like, prom formal, and Josie tended to get what she wanted. Having not attended her prom in high school, she was internally grateful while everyone else complained about the request. After a day of shopping last weekend, she had selected some nude heels and an emerald dress. Diana once told her that you should either accentuate cleavage or leg, never both. Anne didn’t have much to work with on either end so she ignored her advice and chose a satin dress with a tastefully deep v neckline and a slit up the left leg that only ended just before it became indecent. The spaghetti straps crossed her shoulders before vanishing to the sides, leaving it bare until the fabric started again at the lowest point of her back. During most of her childhood she felt weak and frail because of her thin frame. Puberty eventually hit and left her with what she considered a decent figure, but it had been exercising with Gilbert and the years of compliments from the friends she had made since coming to college that had given her the confidence she had always dreamed of having. She could finally truthfully say that she loved her body and she now carried herself proudly instead of hiding in the shadows. She didn’t even hate her hair anymore, which was pulled into a low, messy bun. Her earrings were a gift from Gilbert for her birthday a few weeks ago, so she had a tiny copper carrot hanging from each lobe and she was also wearing the necklace he had gotten her years ago on his birthday.

***

He lifted his fingers on his mic in a wave and laughed through the lyrics at her seeming inability to move, “ _I don't understand your reasons, please just stay over the weekend. You can't take all those things, they define you and me. Everything we've become, you're all that I need. Please don't make me face my generation alone._ ”

The timing of the lyrics was accidental, but he wasn’t mad at it. To the contrary, he found it actually worked out pretty well. He waited for her to wave back to him and it seemed to take her a minute to remember how. He would have gladly stared at her all evening. He assumed she looked great but couldn’t really make out what she was wearing from the stage. He forced his eyes off of her until his last line of the song, _“Oh c’mon what’s a boy to do, when all the pretty girls can’t measure to you?”_ He let his eyes linger on her while the others sang “ _All the pretty girls on a Saturday night,”_ a couple more times. When the song was over, he went to get a drink of water as the crowd cheered. He had a short conversation with Moody which made them both laugh really hard so Gilbert took a minute to explain what was going on.

“Okay, so Moody just called me a diva because I made a big deal about switching out my mic so I feel I need to explain why I did what I did,” he paused to cap his water and set it back down. “It’s no secret that we aren’t really a band and that I’ve only performed with a mic like twenty times. In other words, and I can’t stress this enough, **I don’t know what I’m doing.** You’ll notice that when I carry it around, I wrap the cord around my wrist and you’ve probably seen me swing the mic around a bit. This has nothing to do with trying to look cool and everything to do with me not remembering to hold onto it and not wanting to spend five hundred dollars to replace another microphone. So, now you know,” he said as the crowd laughed.

“This next song is for the birthday girl, Happy Birthday Josie. May I present a hopefully decent version of your favorite song,” he said, smiling at the girl at the front of the stage.

She screamed out “Thank you!” as the band began playing _My Name is Jonas._ Gilbert liked this song too, particularly how everyone sang along with it at the end. It was extremely energizing. After the song was done Josie climbed up on stage and gave them all hugs in appreciation.

He looked over to Anne who had made her way up to the front and was standing with Ruby in front of Moody. After seeing Anne’s dress and trying to stifle the ‘wow’ that escaped his mouth into the microphone he noticed that Ruby was staring up at Moody with complete adoration. Gilbert caught Anne’s eye, pointed back and forth between the two and mouthed, “How’s it going?” Anne gave him two thumbs up in response. Gilbert ran over to her and gave her a high five as they began _Shut up and Dance._

It was impossible for him to not look at Anne while he sang, _“Oh don't you dare look back; just keep your eyes on me. I said you're holding back, she said,”_ he held the mic out to the crowd, but continued looking at Anne and the crowd responded: _“Shut up and dance with me!”_

 _“This woman is my destiny,”_ he sang while laughing, _“She said oh oh oh! Shut up and dance with me!”_ It probably would have been more awkward to stare at her during this song, but he knew they were both thinking about the ass Jerry had made of himself when he proposed to Diana for the first time. This song had come on the radio and he had taken it as divine intervention that he should propose to her despite the fact that they were drinking their despair away after attending Aunt Jo’s wife’s funeral. He eventually figured out what had gone wrong and she said yes the next time he asked. He thought about teasing them but was concerned what form retribution would come in so he resisted.

Next was Animal by Neon Trees and Gilbert decided he really should have argued against this song a little bit more as he sang, _“Here we go again, I kinda wanna be more than friends, so take it easy on me- I'm afraid you're never satisfied.”_

_How did I not think about the lyrics to this? We practiced it this morning!_ He continued singing and walked over and glared at Diana, making sure to continue the glare as he sang, “ _You’re just a cannibal and I’m afraid I won’t get out alive,”_ as she just stood there playing and beaming at him like she got away with something, mostly because she did. This song described Gilbert and Anne’s relationship perfectly and she had tricked him into singing it.

Gilbert decided not to fight it and instead leaned into the performance. He understood the lyrics perfectly, why not use it? “ _Oh, oh, I want some more! Oh, oh, what are you waitin' for? Take a bite of my heart tonight. Oh, oh, I want some more. Oh, oh, what are you waitin' for? What are you waitin' for? Say goodbye to my heart tonight.”_

He noticed that whenever he looked at Anne, she was staring intently at him and singing along joyfully and he let himself start to accept that Diana may be right.

When the song ended, he walked over to Moody.

“Hey Moods,’ he said, “We’re doing Taylor Swift next- why don’t you ask Ruby which one she wants?”

“Really?” he said excitedly.

“Yeah, and maybe you should sing lead.”

“No, no, no, I can’t do that.”

“At least come up and sing with me?”

“Thanks, Gilbert.”

Moody wasn’t one to make a show out of conversation like Gilbert was, so he went to the front of the stage, crouched down and asked Ruby to pick between _Trouble_ and _You Belong with Me._

“I can’t decide! I love them both!” she squealed.

So they played them both, to the delight of Ruby and, since Moody was often right, most the other girls in the room, including Anne.

Next was _I Want you to Want Me,_ another choice of Diana’s but everyone was super into it and no one picked up on Gilberts longing gazes at Anne, except Anne. The looks were in no way uncomfortable, but it was definitely enough that she noticed.

“Should we slow it down? Just a bit?” he asked as he looked to Diana whose eyes were wide and she was shaking her head as she eyed Anne, indicating he should look toward her. Roy had suddenly appeared next to Anne and she was clearly trying to reject his advances.

“Alright, never mind that, for this next song, I need a Janelle Monae, Diana doesn’t like singing lead.”

He heard someone yell, “That’s me!”

“Kira, I know you look like her, but sweetie, you can’t sing worth a damn and you know it. No, don’t pout at me like that; you know I love you regardless. Calm down Josie, not like that, she’s all yours,” he laughed, “Anne, I’m 100% sure that you are going to kill me for this, but please get your cute ass up here,” he said as he held out his hand to pull her up.

“Just my ass?” she eyed him skeptically.

“You can bring your plucky attitude as well,” he joked as she put her hand in his and he pulled her up to him, much closer than necessary. She was nervous but was grateful for any opportunity to get away from Roy.

The stage was pretty small but Gilbert led her over to stand nearest to Diana where he assumed she would be most comfortable. As she stood facing the crowd, he stood in front of her and looked her in the eye, blocking the lights and noise, “How many shots in are you?”

“Two.”

“Perfect. Are you feeling okay up here?”

“Yeah, I think so,” she said nervously, looking around him at the crowd.

“Nope,” he said guiding her gaze back to him with his fingers on her chin, “Eyes on me, Anne, no one else. We’re singing the song just like the recording. We sang this together the other day and you used a banana as a microphone. Do you remember?”

She giggled, “Yes.”

“Join me on all the choruses, so you can warm your voice up before the carry me home part, k?”

“K.”

He went to say something to Diana and he received a glare in return. “Are you sure?”

“Positive. Jerry, Moody!” he walked to the other side of the stage, “Cut out on Anne’s solo, I just want drums playing with her.”

He went back over to Anne, and standing right in front of her, put his right hand on her left hip as he spoke, his lips grazing her right ear, “You’ve got this, just be confident and it’ll be perfect. Also, you look amazing.”

He turned around and looked down at a very angry Roy as he got the mic stand adjusted and set up between them. He and Anne had been singing this song together for years and they both loved it. As he sang the beginning, he looked right at her, so she would feel more comfortable; like it was just them singing in the car and it seemed to work. He couldn’t believe how well Anne did. When she started adding in the harmonies on the second verse, he couldn’t help his eyebrows raise in surprise. She looked scared for just a minute when the music dropped out and she was singing with just the drums, but Gilbert’s encouraging eyes and smirk kept her going. After she sang, _“Carry me home tonight”_ twice, he cued the instruments back in and they finished strong as he sang to her, _“So if by the time the bar closes and you feel like falling down, I’ll carry you home tonight.”_

He walked over to her and gave her a giant hug that lifted her up off of her feet. “You are absolutely amazing,” he said, his lips grazing her ear again, sending chills down her spine, “I’m so proud of you.” He set her down and looked at her in wonder for a few seconds before she asked him if he needed any more water, having noticed he was almost out.

“No I should be okay, but if you’re not mad at me for pulling you up here, can you get me some whiskey? Jameson? We have three songs left and I need it before the last one.”

“Sure,” she said as he went to move the mic stand away again. “Gilbert?”

He walked over to her so he could hear her better, “Yeah?”

She tried to speak but her mouth didn’t work. He looked at her with questioning eyes, “Did you forget what you were going to say?”

She smiled and shook her head to clear the cobwebs and said, “No, just, per your request yesterday, I think you are very attractive.”

He laughed good naturedly, “Thanks for the clarification of your staring.”

 _Just give him some indication,_ Diana’s words echoed in her mind. “That’s not why I’m staring, and no you don’t have any food on your face,” she said confidently as she turned to ask Diana if she needed another margarita while Gilbert was left staring after her with his jaw on the floor.

“Gilbert, let’s go!” Charlie yelled.

“Right, yeah, what’s next?”

“Proclaimers, you fool,” Jerry teased.

“Right, k, go ahead.”

As the music started and the crowd started cheering again, Gilbert’s mind was racing.

Jerry, Moody, Charlie and Diana had no trouble at all carrying this song so Gilbert stood off to the side so he could rest a bit and gather his thoughts. He loved watching them like this and suddenly realized how much he was going to miss this next year. He watched Jerry flirt with his wife on stage and not even Diana’s feigned annoyance could hide her love for him. He saw Charlie point to Jane as he sang, “ _I’m gonna be the man who’s coming home with you_ ,” with a giant grin on his face. Meanwhile Moody was looking down at Ruby who was radiantly beaming up at him in response.

 _This is awesome,_ he thought as he looked for Anne. He found her waiting for the drinks at the bar and even from the stage he could tell that Roy was again vying for her attention and he spotted them just as Anne absolutely unload on him. From the looks of it, he received the verbal assault of a lifetime before Diana’s drink landed all over his face. Anne smiled as she turned to ask the bartender for another.

The song ended and he said, “That was fantastic,” into the mic. It sounded like he was complementing the group, but he was looking at Anne who turned around and smiled right back at him.

The band started clapping the beat as Moody began playing the next song and Gilbert had to snap out of his reverie to begin singing the next song. This was a fun one. He sang the beginning nice and calm, but went crazy when he got to, “ _Girl! If you’re wondering if I want you to, I want you to. So make a move. ‘Cause I ain’t got all night.”_

When they were done Anne was waiting with some whiskey and a margarita.

He spoke into the mic, “Anne, I meant a couple fingers, this is a pint of whiskey. You trying to get me drunk?” he asked and winked at her from the stage. He took a couple large swallows before passing it off to Moody who did the same before Jerry and Charlie finished off the glass. As they drank, he delivered Diana’s margarita.

“Okay, so this is going to be our last song. We did it a few years ago, mostly because it was a crowd pleaser, it was easy to learn and I had a calculus test to study for so I couldn’t practice to properly prepare anything else.”

“Nerd!” he heard someone yell out.

“Yes, I am a nerd, thank you. Anyway, Moody won’t stop bitching because in his words, there isn’t a person alive who can resist bopping along to it. I’m not going to lie to you; I really don’t want to do this song, but I’ll take one for the team. In exchange, I expect everyone to be bopping around. Excessively. Please make my pain worth it.”

He was standing with his hands in his pockets, using the mic on the stand as Diana and Moody began playing and the crowd cheered in recognition. He was pissed at the power of music. The confidence he previously had about Anne’s feelings dissipated instantly as he listened to the intro and remembered the lyrics to the song. He was thankful the whiskey seemed to have done its job relaxing his vocal cords when he began singing, _“I've been reading books of old, the legends and the myths. Achilles and his gold, Hercules and his gifts. Spiderman's control, and Batman with his fists,”_ he looked pointedly at Anne before singing, _“And clearly I don't see myself upon that list.”_

He then looked away as he took the mic off the stand and continued as he started walking around the stage getting slightly more into it. “ _But she said, where'd you wanna go? How much you wanna risk? I'm not looking for somebody with some superhuman gifts. Some superhero, some fairytale bliss, just something I can turn to somebody I can kiss. I want something just like this.”_ Thankfully everyone was indeed bopping and he hoped by dancing with them that no one would notice the tears forming in his eyes. He silently cursed at himself for not fighting this selection harder as he continued singing the song. He tried not to look at her again, but it was hard and he faltered in his efforts when he sang, _“And I’m not the kind of person that it fits.”_ He was proud of himself though that he didn’t look at her again until the last time he sang, _“I want something just like this.”_ Moody was right, the song was very well received, and it was a while until they were quiet enough for him to say anything after they finished.

He tried to be his affable self, but anyone who really knew him could tell he wasn’t having a good time anymore.

Diana walked to the center of the stage to get him out of the spotlight, took the mic and led the crowd in singing Happy Birthday to Josie.

When they were done Gilbert thanked them, “Thank you all so much for listening to us and inviting us to play tonight, we know we’re not perfect, but we really enjoy playing for you all and appreciate the opportunity. Have a good night!” he smiled weakly and waved as he left the stage, having lost sight of Anne. ]

Diana chased after him and said, “Hey, Gilbert, are you okay?”

Not looking at her he said, “No Diana, I’m not okay. I’ll see you tomorrow. Enjoy your night.”

“You need to talk to her, Gilbert.”

“I need to get some air.”

***

He grabbed his suit jacket and was on his way down the hall when he heard yelling around the corner.

“Honestly, was the drink in your face not enough of a deterrent? I don’t know how many times I have to explain this to you. I have no interest in going out with you and it has nothing to do with anyone else and everything to do with you being an asshole.”

Gilbert rounded the corner and leaned against the wall, right leg crossed over his left, arms crossed across his chest with his jacket draped over them, and watched the scene play out. He saw Roy reach out for her waist and she slapped him. Gilbert bit his lips together so he wouldn’t smile.

“Do **not** touch me.”

Roy tried to reach for her again and she punched him in the face.

“What exactly about my previous statement was unclear to you!?” she yelled.

Gilbert didn’t leave his spot, but called out, alerting her to his presence, “Anne, how are you doing?”

“I’m fucking furious, Gilbert.”

“Yes, I can see that.”

“Well, well, well. If it isn’t Prince Charming coming to save the damsel in distress,” he said through the blood streaming down his face.

Gilbert laughed as he walked over, “So let me get this straight. You harassed her all evening long, you just admitted to treating her in a way that would warrant her needing to be saved from you **and** you have the audacity to claim she can’t take care of herself? Dude, she’s wearing an evening gown and heels and she just beat the shit out of you. Who the fuck do you think you are? Did you honestly think that you would get anywhere treating her like this?”

“Well, I’ve watched you strike out for three years and figured I’d try a different approach,” he said snidely.

Anne stepped up to him and kneed him in the groin, bringing him to the floor.

“Let’s go,” she said through her gritted teeth, absolutely fuming with rage.

“Can I get your coat for you?”

“I didn’t bring one,” she answered on the verge of tears.

“Here,” he said, placing his coat around her shoulders. She pulled him behind her as they practically jogged out of the mansion. She slammed the door shut and sank to the ground, crying.

“Help!” she called to him, holding out her hand, presenting her dislocated thumb.

“Dammit Anne, this is exactly why I told you not to punch with your fingers wrapped around your thumb! We’ve been over this!” he tried to say calmly. He kneeled down next to her and was feeling around her hand, trying to get a grasp on the situation, “I’m just feeling for now, I promise I’ll let you know before I-”

“Ow! Mother fucking son of a bitch! Gilbert fucking Blythe what the fuck?!” she took a breath and shook out her hand, “Shit that fucking hurt!”

“Sorry,” he said. “But not really. I needed you to be as relaxed as possible or it wouldn’t have worked properly. We need to get you home to get some ice on that.”

“Thank you for tricking me, it feels much better now. Wait,” she gasped in feigned shock, “you lied to me!”

“I had to!” he defended himself, putting his hands in the air in surrender and laughing. “That’s only the second time I’ve blatantly lied to you, I swear.”

She wiped the tears from her face and stood up, “What was the first time?” she asked as she offered her good hand down to help him up.

“That I didn’t believe in love at first sight,” he said as he rose to stand in front of her.

She smiled up at him as she remembered what Diana said: _You've been in his phone as future wife since the day you met._

“Take me home, Gilbert Blythe.”


	4. Blech: Exclamation, Used to Express Disgust or Distaste

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gilbert takes Anne home after the show and they discuss their relationship.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I couldn't get it all done tonight so there will be a short epilogue posted sometime soon. It is important to remember that they are best friends and that's why this isn't as awkward or as tentative as it could be with two people changing the status of their relationship.

“I came with Ruby, is your car here?” Anne asked.

“Yeah, this way,” he said, leading her down the long driveway.

“You good to drive?”

“Yeah, thanks,” he said. There was a moment of silence between them before he continued, “I really wish I would have recorded that. You were amazing.”

“If only I could have punched him without hurting myself," she said wistfully. "Then I would feel like such a badass.”

“You’ve always been a badass. Did you at least learn your lesson?”

“That sometimes violence **is** the answer?”

He laughed as he opened her car door for her. He always did these tiny things that made Anne feel like he was a little out of his time. He would pull out chairs for her, open doors, he offered his arm for assistance when it was icy and heaven forbid she walk closest to the street when going down the sidewalk. She did an experiment once when they were shopping for Christmas gifts downtown. After every store they exited, Anne would go to the curbside of the sidewalk and continue walking. The furthest she made it was three steps before he inevitably guided her away from the road, placing himself closest to the traffic. It drove her crazy. Partly because she was ultra-independent, partly because she doubted he was even aware he was doing it and party because she secretly loved it, though she would never admit it. Not to herself and certainly not to him. After he shut her door, he went around and got in the car.

“I was talking about punching correctly, but yeah, that too,” he said as he buckled his seat belt, started the car and they got on their way. "I’m really sorry you had to deal with that, Anne.” 

“He is none of your concern.”

“No. But you are,” he said, and he was very surprised that she didn't argue with him.

“How much did you see?” 

“I came around the corner right before you slapped him.”

“And you just stood there watching!?” she feigned offense.

“Yes, I did,” he said with a smirk on his face.

She laughed, “And did you enjoy the show?”

“Like you wouldn’t believe. You reminded me of that fearless girl statue, except all grown up and…” his voice faded away.

“And what?”

“Never mind.”

“Out with it, Blythe.”

“And it was hot. Okay?” he said quietly. “Sorry, I know that’s a terrible thing to say when you’re standing there defending yourself, but it was really freaking hot. And just for the record if I thought for even a second that there was anything to worry about, I would have stepped in.”

“And done what, exactly?” she asked, laughing at the idea of him getting into a fight.

“With the right motivation, I can fight, Anne.”

“I really doubt that; you are far too kind.”

“You really shouldn’t. And who taught who how to punch here?”

“Unsuccessfully taught.”

“You just need to pay attention,” he said quietly and looked over at her. “You really do look amazing, by the way.”

“Thanks. This dress is awesome- it even has pockets!” she said with such excitement he could tell immediately that’s what sold her on it.

“The dress is beautiful, but I'm not talking about that. I'm talking about you and the way you carry yourself. I’ve never seen you so confident.”

“I have you to thank for that, for dragging me to the gym and all. I finally don’t hate my body anymore. I think tonight was one of the first times I’ve actually ever felt pretty.”

“Anne,” he said on a sigh, “That makes me sad.”

She chuckled, “Are you actually surprised? You know me Gilbert; you know I’ve struggled with this. It’s getting a lot better though, I promise.”

“I just wish you could see you as I see you. I think you’d be impressed.”

Anne didn’t know how to respond to that, so she said nothing and the moment hung in the air between them. The drive back was short. If it had been warmer and Anne wasn’t wearing heels they could have easily walked. Gilbert parked at his house and wasn’t really sure what to do next.

“You’re coming over, right?” Anne asked as she got out of the car, though it didn’t sound like a question. “I remembered that you said you would need some liquor to sing that last song, and I figured you’d go with whiskey, so I picked up some Oreos for you today.”

“Really?” he said popping out of his seat and looking over the car at her with such excitement that she had a hard time remembering that she was looking at a 24-year-old man and not a child being offered a puppy.

She laughed, “And chocolate milk, you weirdo.”

“Yessss! You’re the best!” he said jokingly as he ran around the car and gave her a giant hug, again lifting her off the ground.

Anne dug her key out of her pocket as they walked to the door. After they entered the house, she held onto his upper arm so she could maintain her balance while she removed her shoes. They moved through the dining room and into the kitchen.

“I’ll get you some ice,” Gilbert said right before Anne’s phone rang.

She looked at the display and said, “It’s Diana, I’ll be right back. Help yourself to whatever you need.”

***

“Hi beautiful,” Anne said in greeting as she left the kitchen for some privacy.

“Hey, sweetie, I can’t find you anywhere, did you go home?”

“Yeah, I did. Sorry we didn’t get a chance to hang out, I meant to, but something came up.”

“Like your fists?”

“Oh great, you heard,” she said flatly.

“Did you think that wouldn’t get out?”

“I thought the only people who knew about it were me, Gilbert and Roy. Gilbert and I left. Did Roy really go around telling people that I punched him?”

“Well, he had to explain the blood somehow.”

“I’m surprised he didn’t just make something up or leave. How was he walking?”

“Not great, Anne,” Diana laughed.

“Well, serves him right for grabbing me and not listening when I said no.”

“Agreed. Are you hurt?”

“No, not really. I dislocated my thumb because I’m an idiot and punched him wrong, but Gilbert was able to get it back into place. Caused some moderate discomfort, but I’m doing okay now. I’ll get some ice on it and he said it should be fine. Just sore for a couple days.”

“Is he with you?”

“Yes. We just got here and he said he was going to get me some ice and then you called… so… that’s where we are in the evening. How are you doing?”

“We’re super drunk and staying the night here. So, feel free to do… whatever.”

“I appreciate your permission, Mrs. Baynard, but really, was that necessary?”

“I’m just saying there are other more enjoyable activities for you to engage in that may cause temporary moderate discomfort. And what I'm thinking of will have a **m** **uch** better finish. If Gilbert can figure out what he's doing anyway.”

“Are you fucking kidding me right now? How drunk are you?”

“Super drunk, Anne. You saw him look at you tonight, right? You saw how those songs affected him? You saw how **you** affected him?”

“I would have had to be deaf and blind to miss it, Di.”

“You’ve been missing it for three and a half years. You’ll need to forgive me for feeling the need to drive the message home. So what are you going to do about it?”

“Well, I had planned on discussing it with him, but then you called. Now I’m stuck on the phone with you, talking about boys and hiding in my bedroom like I’m fourteen!”

Diana screamed, “Oh my god really?! It’s happening?!”

“Yes, Diana. We’ll figure something out. Probably.”

“You will! Go! I love you!”

“Love you too,” she said and then disconnected, putting her phone on her desk. No more interruptions. She took off Gilbert’s suit jacket, smelled it and her eyes rolled back into her head in ecstasy. Then she collected herself and placed the jacket on her chair before leaving her room.

***

She found Gilbert in the living room and what she saw made her stop short. Her hand flew to her chest in surprise and her breath caught in her throat.

“Gilbert,” she said softly, “What did you do?”

“What do you mean?” he said as he stood from the couch and handed her a ice pack before sitting back down, the unopened Oreos and full glass of chocolate milk in front of him.

“What is this?” she asked gesturing to the other side of the coffee table.

“Well, I know you drank tequila tonight, so you’re going to want a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. There’s chips and salsa because you accidentally conditioned yourself Pavlov style in high school and ever since, you literally can’t eat the sandwich or chips and salsa without the other. When you have tortilla chips, I know you need a pop, so I got you a Dr. Pepper. The LaCroix is because you don’t let yourself drink pop without first drinking an equivalent amount of water. And the peppermint is because when you chug your Dr. Pepper, you hate how much it makes you burp. It should help,” he said with a chuckle, suddenly feeling quite vulnerable. “It’s kind of an _If you Give a Moose a Muffin_ situation.”

She was going to make a joke about him calling her a moose, but she found absolute clarity at that moment. He did love her. He had for so long and she had completely missed it. In her frustrated astonishment she whispered, “We are so stupid.”

He laughed on an exhale and asked, “Are you talking, like, the ‘royal we’? Or you and me ‘we’?”

“All of it, Gilbert. It is nearly incomprehensible that two individuals as intelligent as we are are so fucking stupid,” she said quietly. She shook her head in bewilderment as tears of frustration came to her eyes. She stated, in near disbelief, “You love me.”

He took a deep breath, relieved and terrified that it was out, stared up at her with devotion and said, “I love you; more than anything.”

She threw the ice pack onto the table and wiped the tears off her cheeks.

“Why didn’t you ever say anything Gil?” she asked as she stood there with her hands on her hips, looking up at the ceiling in an effort to prevent more tears from forming. “We spend almost every day together. Why wouldn’t you just tell me how you feel? Why not take a chance?”

“Because I couldn’t risk losing you,” he said quietly, looking back down at his folded hands as he sat with his elbows on his knees. It felt like a pathetic excuse now, but it was the truth. “I watched you turn down so many guys over the years, some of whom I was so certain were exactly what you were looking for and I figured that if they weren't good enough, how could I be? And I thought I was being so obvious about my affection for you and I was just waiting for a sign that you could feel the same way, but I could never see it. And I was so afraid to tell you and risk pushing you away; I just wanted to hold on to what I had of you. Anne, I know I will never be good enough for you, but when I think of a life where I don’t see you or get to talk to you every day, I don’t want it. Thinking about it makes me sick. I even hate going home for the summer, because you aren’t there, and because you aren’t there it doesn’t even feel like home anymore. You are the only thing that feels like home.”

“I honestly don’t know if I am feeling remorse or fury about this situation, but I don't think I've ever been this mad at you.”

“What?”

“Gilbert, I’m sorry,” she apologized and then began speaking faster than she had ever spoken before. “I’m sorry that my attempts to indicate my feelings for you were misinterpreted and I’m sorry that I patted your head when you told me you loved me and if I had any idea at all that you could possibly have feelings for me I would have more readily accepted what you said or even admitted to you how I felt but dammit Gilbert! I turned down all those guys because they weren’t you!”

She was fully yelling at him now, “How **dare** you think that you aren’t good enough for me! How **dare** you think even for a second that you are anything less than the very best of men! How **dare** you think that there is any possibility whatsoever in this world that you could ever lose me!”

“Now hold on,” he said, standing to meet her eyes across the table. “What about you? You could have said anything at any time! Why wouldn’t **you** take a chance? You said it yourself, we spend nearly every day together, you had every opportunity and I’ve always encouraged you to speak your mind. You are the strongest fucking person I know and you couldn't tell me that you liked me?”

“Why would I dare take a chance?!” she yelled, “Gilbert, you are so far out of my league that women hit on you in front of me when we go out together!”

“That can’t possibly happen as often as you have implied.”

“You keep telling guys that I’m single!”

“You are!”

“You put a fucking blanket wall between us when we slept in the same bed on Halloween!”

“I was trying to be respectful! I didn’t trust myself in bed next to you!”

“It didn’t feel like respect! It felt like a chastity belt at best and utter disgust at worst! Seriously, Gil, not even joking, the sight of that blanket between us made me vomit.”

“You drank your weight that night, Anne, it wasn’t the fucking blanket that made you vomit.”

“I drank my weight because the alternative was staring at you and drooling! And It was definitely the blanket that made me puke. To me, that blanket was you saying, ‘You’re nice enough, but sharing a bed with you? Blech.’”

“‘Blech?’ Anne?” he laughed wildly, “You actually think I could think you’re ‘blech’? We’ve shared a bed on countless occasions and I come up with stupid excuses every fucking day just to be near you and touch you; how the fuck could you think you disgust me? I don’t choose to spend all my free time with people who disgust me! Do you think I take twenty separate drinks of water in ten minutes because it’s good for my health? Do you think it’s cold at our house because we like wearing multiple sweaters and I get off from everyone complaining how cold it is all the time! No! Everything I do is so I can be closer to you! Every single ‘accidental’ graze is just a pathetic attempt to get as close to you as possible without crossing any lines and scaring you away forever.”

“You can’t scare me away!”

“Well I didn’t know that!”

“Then you haven’t been paying attention!”

“Neither have you!”

They stood there staring at each other in silence for a minute, breathing heavily, neither of them knowing how to proceed.

“And now?” she asked quietly.

“Now what?”

“Now that you know you can’t scare me away,” she took a deep breath and finally confessed, “I’m in love with you, Gilbert.”

She turned to the side and started slowly pacing in front of the coffee table, “I am so in love with you and I have been for like, forever. How I managed to remain at the top of the class is astounding because when we are together supposedly studying, I can’t think of anything except you. It is unbearable to be so close to you, to smell you, to touch you and-”

“Anne.”

“-to not be able to do anything about it.”

“Anne, stop talking,” he said. He had come around the table and was suddenly behind her with his hands on her hips and his lips at her ear. He turned her around and their bodies pressed together as he whispered, “Do something about it.”

They were both so inexperienced that it was no surprise that their first kiss was a disaster, if you could even call it a kiss. Gilbert had a girlfriend his senior year of high school, but the physical side of things hadn’t progressed beyond simple kissing. Anne had kissed Cole once; she just wanted to get her first kiss out of the way so there would be less pressure with someone she actually had romantic feelings for and maybe be able to go into it with some confidence. Anne reached up, put her hand on his neck and pulled him down too hard while he leaned in too eagerly and what resulted was a painful clanging of teeth.

“Son of a bitch!” Anne yelled as Gilbert laughed, rubbing the pain out. She turned around and walked away in embarrassment.

He ran after her laughing, “No, no, no, come back! We’re really smart, I’m pretty sure we can figure this out!”

He stopped laughing when he reached her and the second kiss was simple and divine. Gilbert brushed a strand of hair off of her face before his hand rested on the side of her neck guiding her face up to him. She let him come to her and when their lips met, she felt the energy from it shoot through her entire body. A whimper escaped her after a few moments and Gilbert broke the kiss.

“Better?” he whispered as he focused on exactly what was required of his body for it to remain standing and not collapse in bliss. He had imagined this so many times but found that the reality of her lips on his exceeded his expectations in an infinite number of ways.

She looked at him, her eyes brimming with tears from the welling of emotion and whispered, “Oh my god I can’t feel my feet.”

“So fall,” he encouraged her. “I’ll catch you.”

He started kissing her again, eventually deepening the kiss as she quickly caught on. This time, feeling her fingers in his hair was as invigorating as he thought it would be and he made no attempt to stop his hands from wandering from her waist down to her butt and was encouraged by the moan that escaped from her mouth when he did so. As promised, he lifted her up and pressed her back against the wall, kissing her until nearly every thought had left his mind except for one.

He forced himself to stop, rested his forehead against hers and, breathing heavily, said, “Anne, I want to be clear that this is what I want. Us. Together. Forever. I’ve known since the day I met you that you’re it for me. If it isn’t a possibility, then I don’t think I can do this.”

“I want that too,” she answered as he continued to hold her against the wall. “More than anything. Diana told me today what FW actually stands for. You said you’ve only lied to me twice.”

He laughed and said, “That wasn’t a lie so much as a synonym. And if I told you that the day we met, what would you have done, honestly?”

“You absolutely know that I would have hit you, but about a week later I was completely infatuated, so I wasn't far behind.”

She paused and took a deep, measured breath and he let her back down to the ground as she said, “My god, Gilbert. We wasted so much time. Three and a half years!”

Both of his hands came to her face and wiped her tears away, “We wasted nothing. If a platonic friendship with you were a waste, I wouldn’t have gladly accepted every single moment of it. And I definitely wouldn’t have fought so fucking hard for it. I wouldn’t have lived to see you smile and fallen asleep every night thanking God for bringing you into my life and praying for a possibility that we could someday be more.”

“Aren’t you at all upset that it **could** have been more though? All this time we could have been so much more.”

“It always has been more if you think about it. And I’m not going to be upset about anything that led us to this moment, right here, right now, sorry. I can’t change it, so it does nothing productive to be upset about it.”

“I don’t care if it’s productive! I’m fucking pissed! I missed out on three and a half years of you kissing me like that and it fucking hurts!” she pushed him away and was back to standing in front of him with her hands on her hips.

He mirrored her stance, “And I promise that we will find a way to make up for it! But I’m not going to be upset for having a relationship built on years of being your best friend!”

She started laughing at the absurdity of the argument.

He looked down, also chuckling. Eventually he looked back up at her with a smirk on his face and said, “This is going to be a lot of fun.”

“The relationship or the sex?” she asked.

Caught off guard, he stuttered slightly, “Th-the relationship, Anne. You know I don’t expect to sleep with you tonight, right?”

“Of course you don’t. I know you, you would never expect anything like that.”

He exhaled in relief.

“But why the fuck not?” she continued. “Honestly, do you think we need to wait until we get to know each other better? Because I don’t. I don’t even know that it’s possible for us to get to know each other better.”

“Anne, you’re right, I do know you, and because of that I know that was your first real kiss, don’t you think you’d rather ease into it all?”

“No! I don’t! Do **you** really want to ease into this? I don’t know if I can stand anymore ‘easing’ because if you think about our relationship, we’ve been dating for years, we just didn’t realize it because we’re fucking idiots! Neither of us ever went out with anyone else and we spent almost all of our time together and we essentially just committed to getting married someday. It’s insane, I know, and it’s all backwards and turned around and not normal, but it’s us and we’re clearly not normal! If you think we should wait, I respect that,” she paused and thought about it for a minute.

She thought about all his lingering stares over the years, his fingers curling into her waist while he slept, his thumb caressing her ribs as he admired her tattoo, his arm around her the countless times they had watched movies together, him absentmindedly playing with her hair, all their heated arguments that solved nothing and only left her longing for more of him.

“That’s a lie,” she admitted quietly. “I respect you, so much, but I know you don’t want to wait. You just think we should. Gilbert, look at me.”

He did, and she could see him struggling.

“I can see the hunger in your eyes and I know that it reflects my own. How long have you wanted me? How long have you waited to be with me? To have me in every way?”

“You’re killing me, Carrots,” he whispered.

She looked him in the eye and said, “I love you. And I am entirely yours. Take your own damn advice and do something about it.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was not one of those chapters that came easily because there were so many possible ways to get them together and I didn't want it to be too predictable. Like, y'all knew they'd get together, but I wanted to keep it at least a little fresh by not having everything be absolutely perfect. I really hope you like what I did!


	5. Hypothetically Agreed Upon Eventualities Notwithstanding

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Later that same night...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This isn't what I thought it would be. If you don't like it feel free to ignore it and consider chapter 4 the end. Too fluffy? Perhaps. But in this time of uncertainty isn't it nice to have a predictable happy ending?

Gilbert had his arm wrapped around her as she rested her head on his shoulder, their legs still entwined as they caught their breath. She picked her head up briefly, looked at him, smiled, and then snuggled in closer.

“What are you thinking about?” he asked.

“A couple things.”

“Tell me,” he said quietly, kissing her forehead and playing with her hair.

“I’m thinking about the sandwich you made me. And the chips. All of it. I’m unbelievably hungry right now.”

He laughed in relief, “Thank God. I’m starving. I need those Oreos and I felt terrible that that’s what I was thinking about.”

They rolled awkwardly away from each other. Anne put on some shorts and a tank top and Gilbert put his pants back on and they headed back to the living room and sat down next to each other on the couch. Gilbert popped an Oreo into his mouth and then leaned over to hug her.

“This is undoubtedly the best day of my life.”

“Obviously,” she joked. “You got sex AND cookies.”

“That’s not at all why,” he paused to take a drink. “This milk got weird, I’ll be right back.” She watched him walk away and blushed when she noticed the marks her nails had left on his back. When he returned a few moments later with the milk replaced, she made no attempt to hide her staring, taking time to fully appreciating the site of her boyfriend with his disheveled hair, the mark her mouth had left near his collar bone and his pants riding low on his slender hips.

“What?” he asked. “Why are you looking at me like that?”

She stood to meet him and kissed him deeply.

“You’re really fucking hot,” she said smiling. “I’m going to look at you like this all the time now.”

He laughed as he picked her up and she wrapped her legs around him as he laid her down on the couch. “I've been dreaming of you looking at me like that for years. But if you always look at me like you want to tear my clothes off, we are going to have some very real productivity issues,” he said and they started kissing again. A few minutes later, her stomach growled and he laughed.

“Sorry,” he said as he pulled her into a seated position and kissed her on the cheek. “Eat.”

“Don’t ever apologize for kissing me.”

“I was apologizing for distracting you from eating after you explicitly indicated how hungry you are.”

“And if I wanted to stop, I would have said something,” she said pulling him toward her again.

“Anne,” he laughed, pulling away, “Eat.”

“Fine,” she said dramatically, reaching for her sandwich.

“You said you were thinking about a couple things and you only mentioned one. What was the other thing?”

She smiled brightly at him, “I can’t believe I’m Gilbert Blythe’s girlfriend.”

“You and me both. And it's about fucking time.”

“It was fucking time thirty minutes ago; now it's eating time,” she said absentmindedly.

“Ever a lady,” he said laughing. “And you know you are much more than my girlfriend.”

“Hypothetically agreed upon eventualities notwithstanding,” she said, taking a bite of her sandwich, “I can’t believe that I’m your girlfriend,” she finished with her mouth full.

“So hot,” he laughed. “I love the way you talk, though you could have left off hypothetically. We did agree.”

“The hypothetically was in reference to the eventualities, not the agreement. Pay attention to the sentence structure, Gilbert.”

“The eventualities aren’t hypothetical either, they’re just eventualities. Adding the hypothetically makes it redundant. Eventualities are already only possible events or outcomes. Come here,” he said and licked some peanut butter off her lip.

“You did not just lick me!” she laughed. “That was the most cliché thing you could have possibly done.”

“It wasn’t cliché at all. I wasn’t doing it in an effort to kiss you; I legitimately wanted some peanut butter. If I wanted to kiss you I would do this,” he said and he pulled her to him and kissed her.

“Wow,” she said, suddenly dizzy by the contact. “You're really good at that, which is not at all surprising, but wow.”

“Thank you.”

“And if you want some peanut butter, get the fucking jar. Don’t lick me.”

“I only wanted a little bit, and you weren’t complaining earlier,” he said with a smirk.

“You are infuriating,”

“But I’m not wrong.”

“Anyway,” she continued, “We’re talking about hypothetically possible events or outcomes. I don’t see the problem with that statement. Hypothetical and possible aren’t synonyms.”

“Well, I have a problem with the whole thing because when you think about it, if we both already agreed then it may as well be classified as an inevitability.” 

“Well, that’s romantic,” she said sarcastically.

“A certainty then. And I can be romantic,” he thought about it. “I think I can anyway, you’ll have to let me know. I’m just saying that’s what we discussed.”

“And I’m just saying we agreed that’s what we want, that doesn’t mean it’s automatically a certainty. Just because you wanted to get into med school didn’t mean it would happen.”

“No, but because I wanted to get into med school I worked my ass off to make sure that it did happen. This is happening, Anne.”

“Oh my god this is one of the stupidest arguments I think we've ever had and that is **really** saying something. Look, Gilbert, what I’m trying to say is that I’m ecstatic to be your girlfriend and when the time comes I will be ecstatic to be more, but I don’t think we should advertise what we’ve discussed to everyone yet. Being your girlfriend is enough, and it’s none of their business anyway.”

“So you’re not excited at all to tell all our friends that we’re essentially engaged? Because the way I see it, I agree with you, we have pretty much been dating all this time, we just didn’t realize it. I told you that I want to be with you forever and you agreed.”

“Essentially engaged isn’t the same as engaged. It’s not like you actually asked and I don’t see a ring on my finger.”

“I will! I promise! We’ve been together for, like, an hour! Did you really think I would propose tonight? I mean I know you don’t want a big showy proposal but I figure you wanted… something. Just a little consideration to the momentousness of the occasion.”

“The momentousness of the occasion is in the asking and answering of the question. **That** is what makes it special; everything else is superficial fluff that I don’t want or need. But I’ve looked forward to having an engagement ring since I was ten and I’m not conceding on that, nor am I willing to announce our engagement without it. When you have a ring, I’ll be ready.”

He laughed and asked, “Is that a promise?”

She hesitated before answering, “Yeah. What’s so funny?”

“Oh, nothing,” he said as he continued eating, trying to hide his laughter, “Wanna watch something?”

“Gilbert Blythe what are you not telling me?”

“Nothing,” he said, still laughing, “Parks and Rec?”

“Son of a bitch you have a ring! What is the matter with you! What you just keep some generic ring in your room hoping it’ll come in handy someday?”

“No,” he said calmly, understanding her words were said in surprise and not intended to discount his character, “I have a ring, but no, that’s not at all the situation.”

She squinted her eyes at him, “I think you’re joking. I don’t think you have a ring. And if you do, you’re talking like, a Ring Pop, and that doesn’t count.”

“Alright, want to make a bet?”

“Really?”

“I bet that I have an authentic engagement ring in my room at this very moment that you will love and that I can prove is intended for you, and only you.”

“And what are the terms?”

“I don’t know, actually, I’m not going to make your response the conditional result of a bet, but you are definitely going to lose, so what are you willing to concede?”

“If I lose, and I don’t think I will, not with all those contingencies, I will come up with a truly memorable surprise for you for graduation. And if you lose?”

“I’m not going to lose.”

“And if you lose?” she repeated.

“Same terms I guess, but I promise you that it won’t matter. Let’s go.”

“Now?”

“Yes.”

“Can I at least get dressed?”

“No.”

He grabbed her hand and pulled her out the front door.

“It’s fucking freezing out here! We could have at least put shoes on!”

He laughed thinking about what a sight they must be. One in the morning and he was shirtless, pulling her along wearing not much more than underwear through the lingering springtime snow to his house, and it was NOT a warm night. They quickly entered the house and barged in on Moody and Ruby watching a movie.

“Oh, sorry to interrupt,” Anne said.

“Did it finally happen?!” Moody yelled in astonishment.

“Just a minute, I have a bet to win,” Gilbert said and he continued pulling her through the house and up the stairs to his room. Moody and Ruby shot each other a look and then quickly followed Gilbert and Anne upstairs.

“Anne! What’s going on?” Ruby yelled.

Gilbert walked over to his closet, reached up to the back corner and pulled down a small box.

“Fine,” Anne said, “You have a ring, good luck proving that it’s not just some generic thing.”

“What is happening?!” Moody yelled.

“Are you two finally together?” Ruby asked.

“Both of you, shh!" Gilbert scolded. "Anne, first of all, I know how important it is for your jewelry to have a story. I would never try to give you some generic ring. Do you remember calling me on Valentine’s Day?”

“I didn’t call you on Valentine’s Day. I went out with the girls, got super drunk and then went home to go to sleep.”

“You went out with the girls, got super drunk, went home and then you called me,” he corrected as he pulled out his phone.

“I did not drunk dial you and forget about it.”

He held up his phone and they listened to a message Anne had left for him while very obviously intoxicated:

_“Hey Gilbert, Gil-bert. Gil. Bert. Your name is ridiculous. But you pull it off, don’t worry. I’m sorry to bother you so late. Though I guess I’m not really bothering you since you didn’t pick up. Anyway. I wish you were here. You always make me feel better when I feel terrible. And I do feel just terrible. Not because I’m drunk. That actually helped a little bit, I’m just so fucking pissed that I let Valentine’s Day get to me again. It’s just a stupid made up holiday that makes people feel obligated to spend money and put on the biggest show to see who loves who the most and it’s just dumb. But it’s a reminder that I don’t have that kind of love in my life. And I’m not even close._

_“I can’t help but envy people like Diana and Jerry, who have not only found their best friend and the love of their life but they are the same person. Can you imagine being that lucky? Or do you think one causes the other? I think for them it was love first, honestly, and that their friendship grew out of that connection. But do you think it could go the other way? I hope so. That might give me some hope. Someday, if I’m ever lucky enough to get married, I think it would be so wonderful to marry my best friend. Although I suppose that would mean I need to find a different best friend because I know you aren’t interested in me like that,"_ there was about a ten second silence at the end of which they heard a sniff.

_“I’m sorry. I just thought about my life without you as my best friend and it broke me a little bit. No, that was a lie, I um, I don’t think I’ve ever experienced that much emotional pain from a thought. I’m just going to go to sleep. Um… yeah, sorry to bother you. Hope you had a good night. Bye Gil. Bert. Bye Gilbert.”_

Gilbert put his phone away. “If you can remember, I actually asked you out the next day. I don't think you saw it as anything special, but I had intended to tell you how I felt about you that night. Unfortunately, it was also the day I came down with appendicitis and days later when you were taking care of me, I chose a terrible time to confess my love for you. But I wasn’t going to give up, I promise. I know I got discouraged, but even after you ignored my confession, you would give small indications that maybe there was a chance and it kept me holding on. The first place I went after I recovered was to that custom jeweler down the street. The diamond is the stone from my mother's ring, and the jeweler melted the gold into a new band that holds three stones. The diamond is in the middle and on each side is a blue topaz, the gem of friendship,” he explained as he opened the box and displayed the ring to her. “And the date we met is engraved into the band.”

She wiped the tears off of her cheeks, “Well, you are definitely romantic,” she laughed softly, “and it looks like I lost another bet.”

“You said you’d be ready when I got a ring. You promised. Were you telling the truth?”

She nodded, unable to find any words.

“Holy shit,” whispered Moody and Ruby squealed and jumped up and down.

“Anne, I can’t possibly put everything you mean to me into words, but I have loved you every day that I have known you and I will continue to love you until the day I die. You are my best friend **and** the love of my life and I cannot endure another minute without you fully comprehending how important you are to me and how serious I am about our future together. Will you marry me?”

She managed to croak out a yes through her sobs. Moody and Ruby clapped and cheered from the doorway while Gilbert placed the ring on her finger. He then pulled her into a tight hug, attempting to hide his own tears of joy.

** Epilogue: **

Two months later, Anne was due to make good on the terms of their bet. Gilbert was waiting for her to finish getting ready before heading over to their graduation ceremony.

“So what’s my memorable surprise? Is it that chocolate cake you made for my birthday?”

“No!” she called out from her bedroom.

“Is it dinner at that Thai place I love?”

“No!”

“Back massage?”

“Had I known the terms would have been so easily satisfied I assure you I would have not gone to these lengths, but I was focusing on memorable and I don’t think this is something you’re going to forget. Can you bring me my blue heels by the door? The ones that match my ring?”

“Yeah, just give me a second,” he fetched the shoes and walked back to her bedroom where he found her wearing lacy blue lingerie that also matched her ring and he was stunned silent.

She took her shoes from him, bent over to place them on the floor and stepped into them. She then walked across the room to retrieve her graduation gown, put it on and zipped it up before meeting him at the entrance to her room. She grabbed the front of his gown and pulled him down to kiss her.

“Memorable enough for you?” she whispered.

“You’re going to kill me,” he responded as she pulled him out the door.


	6. New Story Coming!

This is just an update to announce that if you enjoyed this story, it is being continued! The next story is called Maybe Someday and will be part of a series with this so it'll be easy to find. Prologue will be up soon!


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